23:53 - Sunny PagliaccioNote to self: Do NOT open links on max volume in the middle of a quiet night. Otherwise, not bad. :D

23:52 - ApothecaryFast food workers planning a strike in support of $15/hour wages next month. I'm a tutor in a reading lab at a college and I don't even make that much, a bit of an overestimation of one's importance, don'tcha think?

The band released this statement regarding the matter: "Hypocrisy have been forced to sit out the upcoming North American tour this May due to reasons beyond their control. The band members had received their visa approvals and everything was going as scheduled, until the embassy let them know that the earliest they could pick up their visas, get them stamped and so on, wasn't until late June at the earliest. A regular procedure that would normally take just a few days to sort, takes much longer at the moment due to that current workload Homeland Security is experiencing."

"As we were getting ready to go get our visas stamped and ready for the tour we were informed that the earliest we could go initially was sometime in July," explains guitarist/vocalist Peter Tägtgren. "We then immediately continued to call them, got the label to help with some letters, and put our lawyer to work etc. The best that got us was an appointment in late June. This is a HUGE blow to us, to our fans and everyone who has supported Hypocrisy in North America. Sometimes there are battles you can't win, and this is one of them. We will be back, I can promise that!"

The trek was also initially set to feature Brazilians Krisiun, Belgian gore-grinders Aborted, and technical melodic death masters Arsis, as well as Autumn's End and Starkill on select shows. The tour will continue as previously scheduled at this time minus Hypocrisy and Aborted.

Arsis released this message: "While Hypocrisy is forced to sit out the upcoming North American tour... as they say, the show must go on! Arsis and rest of bands will continue with tour. We hope to see you there."

Hopefully they come back soon. I wouldn't have been able to see them anyways since they weren't coming to MA so maybe the next tour they'll come around. They normally hit The Palladium in Worcester so it was weird to not see them booked there.